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Monday, September 30, 2013

Of Ruined City And The Architect


Today is 806th birthday of the master we recognize as Rumi.
I, for one, am deeply in love with the Architect for having created a city that had ruins like Rumi.
You're most welcome to explore through seventy other Rumi posts spread across the blog via this link: Rumi posts

To mark the special occasion, s
haring with you one of his poems, a personal favourite of mine: بیا بیا که نیابی


بیا بیا که نیابی چو ما دگر یاری

چو ما به هر دو جهان خود کجاست دلداری
 
بیا بیا و به هر سوی روزگار مبر
که نیست نقد تو را پیش غیر بازاری
 
تو همچو وادی خشکی و ما چو بارانی
تو همچو شهر خرابی و ما چو معماری
 
به غیر خدمت ما که مشارق شادیست
ندید خلق و نبیند ز شادی آثاری
 
هزار صورت جنبان به خواب می‌بینی
چو خواب رفت نبینی ز خلق دیاری
 
ببند چشم خر و برگشای چشم خرد
که نفس همچو خر افتاد و حرص افساری
 
ز باغ عشق طلب کن عقیده شیرین
که طبع سرکه فروشست و غوره افشاری
 
بیا به جانب دارالشفای خالق خویش
کز آن طبیب ندارد گریز بیماری
 
جهان مثال تن بی‌سرست بی‌آن شاه
بپیچ گرد چنان سر مثال دستاری
 
اگر سیاه نه‌ای آینه مده از دست
که روح آینه توست و جسم زنگاری
 
کجاست تاجر مسعود مشتری طالع
که گرمدار منش باشم و خریداری
 
بیا و فکرت من کن که فکرتت دادم
چو لعل می‌خری از کان من بخر باری
 
به پای جانب آن کس برو که پایت داد
بدو نگر به دو دیده که داد دیداری
 
دو کف به شادی او زن که کف ز بحر ویست
که نیست شادی او را غمی و تیماری
 
تو بی‌ز گوش شنو بی‌زبان بگو با او
که نیست گفت زبان بی‌خلاف و آزاری


Come, come, for you will not find another friend like Me.
Where indeed is a Beloved like Me in all the world? 

Come, come, and do not spend your life in wandering to and fro,
Since there is no market elsewhere for your money. 

You are as a dry valley and I as the rain,
You are as a ruined city and I as the Architect.

Except My service, which is joy's sunrise,
Man never has felt and never will feel an impression of joy.

You behold in dreams a thousand moving shapes;
When the dream is past you do not see a single one of the kind.

Close the eye that sees falsely and open the intellectual eye,
For the senses resemble an' ass, and evil desire is the halter. 

Seek sweet syrup in the garden of Love,
For Nature is a seller of vinegar and a crusher of unripened grapes. 

Come to the hospital of your own Creator:
No sick man can dispense with that Physician. 

The world without that King is like a headless body:
Fold yourself, turban-wise, round such a head. 

Unless you are black, do not let the mirror go from your hand:
The soul is your mirror, while the body is rust. 

Where is the fortunate merchant, whose destiny Jupiter controls,
That I may eagerly trade with him and buy his wares? 

Come, and think of Me who gave you the faculty of thought,
Since from My mine you may purchase an ass-load of rubies. 

Come, advance towards Him who gave you a foot,
Look with all your eyes on Him who gave you all eye. 

Clap your hands for joy of Him, by whose see the hand (foam) is produced,
For His joy admits no sorrow nor affliction. 

Listen without ears, speak to Him without tongue,
Since the speech of the tongue is not without offence and injury.


- Rumi in Deewan-e Shams

Translation via web.


Of The Shards



Un chund barson ka only real damage ye hai kay aitbaar uth gaya hai insan kay Rab kay sath ikhlaas par say.

Insan ki bisaat hi kia kay wo kisi doosray insan say mohabbat kar paey.
Khas kar dara hoa, kamzoar insan mohabbat ka bar nahi utha sakta.
Aur phir jab kay mohabbat ka dawa bhi shuro din say conditional ho ... 'haan, mujhay mohabbat hai, jab tak tumhain mujh say mohabbat hai" ... tou mohabbat bechari tou kabhi kisi ginti main aee hi nahi...


Ye tou khud kay liay aglay ki mohabbat ki acknowledgement receipt hai. Hai na?



Nuqsaan ye hoa hai kay wahid cheez jis par kisi ka takkya tha, wo uska genuine link with Allah tha.
Kisi nay socha jo banda Allah kay sath genuine ho, uski Primary root sahi hai; secondary automatically sahi hi gi, chahay execution main glitches hon.

Us waqt, har us bar jab secondary root rotten sabit hoti thi, sirf bay-yaqeeni ghairti thi ... Primary kay theek hotay hoay secondary rotten kesay hai?


Phir ahista ahista wazeefon, aanso'on, murshidoN, tasbeehoN walay logon ka modus operand samjh aya  .... :)

Par tab tak dair ho gai thi.

Bohat say loag baghair support kay nahi chal patay.
Chahay school ho, ya ghar, professional life, ya social gatherings. They need a crutch to lean on.
Raat ko darnay walay bachon kay liay baazo'on main daba teddy bear jesay.

Allah, bohat saray loagon kay liay aisee hi aik lollipop hai.

Jab aur koi crutch na mil rahi ho, tou association with Allah ko apna teddy bear bana lo!
Nahi, associate with Allah nahi hona. Association-with-Allah ka teddy bear baazo'on main dabana hai. Jesay kai loag Mont Blanc ka pen apnay pass rakhtay hain.
Its a statement of association. Bus.

Its not Association. It is merely a pronouncement of it.

Like wedding vows are for some.



Jis din ye samjh aya, saray shikway khatum ho gaey.Haan ... wazeefon, aanso'on, murshidoN, tasbeehoN par say yaqeen bhi khatam ho gaya.



Monday, September 23, 2013

آج بازار میں



فکر و جزب، سوچ و خیال
بے معنی، بے مصرف وبال
تم دام بتائو جو چاہے ہو
جو مال بکائو، وہ لائے ہو؟


- leenah.



Sunday, September 22, 2013

Why Must You Join Rahbar?

A Rahbar fellow, Zuhaib Sheikh explains why must we need to be a part of the TCF Rahbar program.
Its not only his words, but also the life pulsating through the accompanying images that makes one a believer in the spirit of Rahbar.

I'm thankful to Karim Jindani for sharing this with us at twitter.



گدگداتی آنکھوں کے
جگمگاتے پردے پر
خواب پروئے تتلی کے
رنگوں جیسے کچے ہیں

  یہ بچے میرے بچے ہیں

ناخدا جو مل جائے، 
پھر یقینی ساحل ہے 
اک ذرا افزائش ہو 
دیکھ کمر کیا کستے ہیں

  یہ بچے میرے بچے ہیں

چاند ستارے ہوں تسخیر
سوچ کے پنکھ جو مل جائیں
خواب اڑانوں کے پرزور
اور ارادے سچے ہیں

  یہ بچے میرے بچے ہیں

دوستی محبت کی
ایک چھٹانک بانٹو  تو
چاہتوں کے موتی یہ
بھر نچھاور کرتے ہیں

  یہ بچے میرے بچے ہیں







If it touches your heart in any way, please be a part of it. Be a part of Rahbar! 
It's just a click away: TCF - Rahbar 

Rahbar can be so much more with your inclusion! 


Sunday, September 15, 2013

More About Rahbar


Having first shared the per-requisites of being a Rahbar (here), here's sharing with you the Rahbar JD - as simple as it gets. 


Isn't #Rahbar more about your personal spiritual beauty regimen! 
Hai na? :) 


Thursday, September 12, 2013

... To A Person I'm Proud of



This is an ode. 



An ode to the journey of a life. Of love. Of faith.

With the dawn of a new year in your life, turn back and look at all those years gone by. Look at the warrior who has travelled through all these years.
Look at the scars and the wounds. Look at its sun burned cheeks.
Look at all those battles that live in the warrior's being.

Take a good look.

Seen?


Now look into the warrior's eyes. The eyes whose brilliance is brighter than that of the noon sun.
Look at the warrior's shoulder, that despite all the burden they've towed through the years, refuse to bend their straight posture.
Look into the warrior's heart!
This is where the oozing zam-zam of strength is. This is where the faith is born and nurtured.

You've studied physics.

In physics they teach you about potential energy - the energy stored in an object by virtue of its position: Apply force on a spring, cramp it and it would become a store room of energy, ready to pounce.

A warrior's heart works just like that.

The more it takes the beatings, the more strong it becomes. The more faith flourishes.
And with the insurmountable faith, the warrior sets out to travel even more oceans, win more battles.

Take again a good look at the warrior's heart.

Take a good look.

Through all these years, while the warrior endured the sun, and the heat, and the scars, the heart has continued to be the abode where The Lord resides.
And this is what makes all these years a statement of gratitude. Alhamdolillah.


May there be many many many more years, and many more victories for my beloved warrior.

May there be a win at the end of every fight you come across in life!
May you be grateful to be the warrior that you have grown to be, my love!



This is an ode to the second most beautiful warrior in my life!




Happy birthday!




Love,
leenah.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


12th September is the day of Birthday greetings for someone who is my love and makes me proud. Bohat sara! :)

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Silver And Wine Mingle



Between us
twenty years of age
between your lips and my lips
when they meet and stay
the years collapse
the glass of a whole life shatters.

The day I met you I tore up
all my maps
and my prophecies
like an Arab stallion I smelled the rain
of you
before it wet me
heard the pulse of your voice
before you spoke
undid your hair with my hands
before you had braided it

There is nothing I can do
nothing you can do
what can the wound do
with the knife on the way to it?

Your eyes are like a night of rain
in which ships are sinking
and all I wrote is forgotten
In mirrors there is no memory.

God how is it that we surrender
to love giving it the keys to our city
carrying candles to it and incense
falling down at its feet asking
to be forgiven
Why do we look for it and endure
all that it does to us
all that it does to us?

Woman in whose voice
silver and wine mingle
in the rains
From the mirrors of your knees
the day begins its journey
life puts out to sea

I knew when I said
I love you
that I was inventing a new alphabet
for a city where no one could read
that I was saying my poems
in an empty theater
and pouring my wine
for those who could not
taste it.

When God gave you to me
I felt that He had loaded
everything my way
and unsaid all His sacred books.

Who are you
woman entering my life like a dagger
mild as the eyes of a rabbit
soft as the skin of a plum
pure as strings of jasmine
innocent as children's bibs
and devouring like words?

Your love threw me down
in a land of wonder
it ambushed me like the scent
of a woman stepping into an elevator
it surprised me
in a coffee bar
sitting over a poem
I forgot the poem
It surprised me
reading the lines in my palm
I forgot my palm
It dropped on me like a blind deaf
wildfowl
its feathers became tangled with mine
its cries were twisted with mine

It surprised me
as I sat on my suitcase
waiting for the train of days
I forgot the days
I traveled with you
to the land of wonder

Your image is engraved
on the face of my watch
It is engraved on each of the hands
It is etched on the weeks
months years
My time is no longer mine
it is you 

Rahbar Material


Whenever seeking people out to be a part of Rahbar - TCF's volunteer based mentoring initiative (https://www.facebook.com/TCF.Volunteer.Programmes/) - one of the most common barriers faced is the misconception that the guides/mentors (Rahbars, as we call them) have to be some super human, oh-out-of-this-world individuals!

The fact of the matter is, there is nothing farther from truth than this notion.  



Think of RAHBAR not as a mythical character from a hollywood flick who needs to have every possible achievement in his(/her) bag of goodies, but as earthly an individual as any (wo/)man of clay is made of. 

#Rahbar is someone
  • who has seen failure,
  • has an idea of how bitter disappointment tastes,
  • has gone through ups and down
  • YET
  • has chosen to keep marching
  • and is eager to take other people along as well

Do you see the picture? Mr. Incredible Hulk and Mr. Batman may very well not forward applications, thank you.

So, to help overcome the limiting fence of self doubt, here is a list of questions I thought I could put forward. Following is a set of a few YES/NO answer questions to let you see for your self if you maybe ignoring the Rahbar within you to come out ... Don't rush to reply, you yourself are the jury and the time-keeper.


Be kind to yourself in time-keeping and be honest in judging. :)

Here we go! 

  1. My recipe of life includes my family as a basic ingredient. Yes or No?
  2. Saying 'sorry' at the end of a conflict is a near death experience for me. Yes or No?
  3. Life is an avalanche and not a D.I.Y (do it yourself) project. Yes or No?
  4. My usual set of adjectives in everyday lingo is positive (wow... amazing ... wonderful ... etc etc). Yes or No?
  5. The most important things in my life are objects. Yes or No?
  6. I can't always be the best but I try my best not to cheat (people, emotions, laws, promises, etc.). Yes or No?
  7. I think my individual contribution can play a role in shaping up the destiny. Yes or No?
  8. I think that as a person, I've grown mature from where I was ten years ago. Yes or No?
  9. I'd rather describe myself as a grateful person than a dissatisfied person. Yes or No?
  10. I'd like me if I met me. Yes or No?


Another Rahbar session is initiating this October, please fill in the form if the Rahbar in you wants to be a part of it! :) 


Monday, August 26, 2013

بھوک کا راجواڑ

My writing hand hasn't yet recovered from the sprain it suffered from at Eid, but I was dying to write something instead of typing it ... it adds to the feeling triggering the words, maybe like a drug inhaled direct? ;)






Baat maqdoor ki hai.

Par yahan sab bhookay hain, aur muyassar sab maya hai! 

:)

Yani total loss ki game hai sab. 





PS: please excuse for the difficulty you came across in reading it all. 


Sunday, August 25, 2013

Sa'raey Shab



A night full of talking that hurts, 
my worst held-back secrets. 
Everything has to do with loving and not loving. 
This night will pass. 
Then we have work to do.

- Rumi



Credits: 
"The Essential Rumi", translated by Coleman Barks.


Friday, August 23, 2013

Let's ..


Lets go where colors sing, 

Where dreams dance! 

And where's that, love? 

In your eyes, 
In that glance!

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

The Chalice In The Heart






من و اکسير جام و جانِ جنون
تو و بيداری و چشمان افسون
من و مستی و اين پيمانہ ی دل
تو و تکليف اين دنيا ی کردون

حلمی


I, the elixir of drunkenness, and the spirit of craze
You, the wakefulness, and the charming form
I, intoxication, and this chalice in heart
You, and the bounds of this gyrating world


 inapt translation: mine

Friday, August 16, 2013

Ajal In Say Mil



Ajal in say mil
Kay ye sada dil 
Na ehl'e salat aur na ehl'e sharaab
Na ehle adab aur na ehl'e hiaab
Na ehl'e kitaab
Na ehl'e kitaab aur na ehl'e machin
Na ehl'e khala aur na ehl'e zameen
Faqat be yaqeen
Ajal, in say mat kar hijab
Ajal in say mil
Barho tum bhi aagay barho
Ajal se milo 
Barho nau tawngar gadao
Na kashkol dryoza gari chupao
Tumhein zindagi say koi rabt baqi nahi
Ajal se hanso aur ajal ko hansao
Barho bandagaan'e zamana, barho bandagaan'e deram
Ajal, ye sab insan manfi hein
Manfi zyada hein insan kam
Ho in par nigaah'e karm!

- Noon Meem Rashid




Sunday, August 11, 2013

Ramzan Ramzain



Some random musings during the last few weeks, compiled here ...


Tamed fears make good steeds to fancy's flight.

تعصب سے بڑی بيماری کوئی نہيں، حسد سے بڑی بدنصيبی کوئی نہيں

Smooth sailing is not meant for grandeurous shores.

Keeping dignity is an inside job.

Don't settle for a mediocre relationship with Allah!

In the tradition of lovers, no one recognizes another's seal of kiss. Each wants his own seal...


چلی ہے رسم کہ تعزير ِ قاتلاں کے لئے
شہر ميں مقتول اب کوئی دفنايا نہ جأے گا

If a shell can hold within and transform a salty water droplet to a precious pearl, imagine what can your heart do!

Making friends or picking foes, one must never look below.

علمِ بیاں سے گذر کر ہے علمِ عیاں


طلبِ صبر، نہايت صبر طلب مرحلہ

Genuinity kay musallas kay teen konay hain: Aik Allah. Aik maa. Aik apna aap. The holy trinity!

If you have a song, don't hold it in wait of Spring.

Moments of absolute void come with the most promising possibilities of fulfillment.

Stop those who kill in the name of sect. No God sells Jannah against the blood of innocents.


رقصاں جو شعلے پر يہ پروانے ہيں
ان ميں سے کس سکھ پايا ہے؟

Funerals are the best courses to learn about life.


بدنصيب ہيں وہ عبادت گاہيں جن کی زيبائی کے سبب لوگ انہيں ٹورسٹ سپاٹ بنا ليں
نہ ادھر جلتی سانس سے دہکتی دعا طلب کی جاتی ہے، نہ ہی  پيشانی ميں سجدے مچلتے ہيں.ايسی عبادت گاہوں کے بھاگ انکے صحن کی طرح خالی ہوتے ہيں

1st rule of an argument: 
If you find the need to go personal to prove your point, your argument is null and void. Maybe so is the idea.

اصل مفلس وہ ہے جس کے پاس دينے کے لئيے صرف جھوٹ ہوـ

When you carve your gods, don't forget your divine dust.

One's aura is an offshoot of one's thoughts.

جب حد سے بڑھی طالب کی طلب، طالب خود مطلوب ہوا

No seeker sets out to search, save the one who already has the Treasure.

Isn't it a fact that our quick, instant-mixture, life recipe has robbed us of the pleasure of real food for thought?

جس نظر کو جس نظارے کی طلب ہوتی ہے، اسے وہی نظارہ ملتا ہے ... ديدہ ورکو صنمکدے ميں ديدِ إلہی ہو گئی، نابينا کو کعبہ ميں پتھر ملا!



Monday, July 15, 2013

Hisaab-e Umr Ka Goshwara




Was going through my just received Bank statement document and it struck me strong ... Hamaray hisaab-e umr ka bhi aik aisa hi goshwara ho ga: Credits, Debits, Balance.

What a spine chilling thought - every word, every decision, EVERY action is a transaction being documented under either of the two columns: Credits or Debits! 
There's nothing, N.o.t.h.i.n.g. that goes unnoticed. Nada! 

Do you see how serious is this??

Thinking of the credits I made today.

And debits!




Khudaya, rehm kun bar mun! 



Sunday, June 23, 2013

Bring Me Meanings



It's been a while that I had a dream. Dreams are my means to reconnect with what is Real, True. 
Dreams bring me omens. They help me chalk out my course of action. They make me expect what I need to expect.
And in their absence I am blind folded. 

I haven't been writing since words have the power to bare your soul. What and how much can you reveal when you're blind folded and are entrapped in ether? 
You won't see, you won't hear, you won't feel. 


I need an omen. And I need to hear some sound, like the crackling of wood in a burning fire. 
This quiet has stretched far too long ... Six months!

I don't even know if its a dark night of soul... Because there were ways in which there was some connection. The current flowed, with interruptions. For example with darood-e taaj...

Yet. Kuch amiss hai. Kaafi kuch, actually.

Or maybe its just that I'm not accustomed to this fine tuned, inner calm? :) 


I think I'm growing deaf of the silence. 


I need a dream. I need an omen. 
God's world must still hold some meanings... 

Friday, June 14, 2013

The Grand Play Field




در فراخ عرصۂ آں پاک جاں
تنگ آید عرصۂ ہفت آسماں


 مولانا رومیؒ


In the heart of the pure is such extent
Heavens seven, are but pent 



Verse: Rumi
Inapt translation: mine

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Raising Toast To The Day!


The best love in the world, is the love of a man. The love of a man who came from your womb, the love of your son! I don't have a daughter, but maybe the love of a daughter is the best, too. I am first and foremost me, but right after that, I am a mother. The best thing that I can ever be, is me. But the best gift that I will ever have, is being a mother.

― C. JoyBell C.